Archibald McIndoe - East Grinstead, UK
Posted by: JamesA60
N 51° 07.447 W 000° 00.227
30U E 709661 N 5667897
The McIndoe statue is placed outside Sackville College. McIndoe was a consultant in plastic surgery to the Royal Air Force from 1938 and during the second world war.
Waymark Code: WMKY73
Location: South East England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 06/13/2014
Views: 2
Archibald McIndoe Adapted from Wikipedia
Sir Archibald McIndoe CBE FRCS (4 May 1900 – 11 April 1960) was a pioneering New Zealand plastic surgeon who worked for the Royal Air Force during World War II. He greatly improved the treatment and rehabilitation of badly burned aircrew.
Archibald McIndoe was born 4 May 1900 in Dunedin, New Zealand, into a family of four. His father was John McIndoe, a printer and his mother was the artist Mabel McIndoe née Hill he had three brothers and one sister. McIndoe studied at Otago Boys' High School and later medicine at the University of Otago. After his graduation he became a house surgeon at Waikato Hospital.
When World War II broke out plastic surgery was largely divided on service lines. Gillies went to Rooksdown House near Basingstoke, which became the principal army plastic surgery unit; Tommy Kilner (who had worked with Gillies during the First World War, and who now has a surgical instrument named after him, the kilner cheek retractor), went to Queen Mary's Hospital, Roehampton, and Mowlem to St Albans. McIndoe moved to the recently rebuilt Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, Sussex, and founded a Centre for Plastic and Jaw Surgery. There, he treated very deep burns and serious facial disfigurement like loss of eyelids. Patients at the hospital formed the Guinea Pig Club. Among the better-known members of his "club" were Richard Hillary, Bill Foxley and Jimmy Edwards.
About the statue Adapted from www.mcindoememorial.com
The official launch of the McIndoe Memorial appeal took place on 5th April, 2013 at the Meridian Hall (East Court Mansion) in front of seventy invited guests. Adonia Montfort Bebb, Sir Archibald’s eldest daughter, unveiled the maquette created by Martin Jennings FRBS. The event generated considerable interest from the press and broadcast media with interviews broadcast on BBC and ITV news during the evening. On the 9th of June 2014 the statue was unveiled by Princess Anne in front of a large audience of local residents and primary school children outside Sackville College. The piece of art to commemorate his work was sculpted by Martin Jennings, whose father was treated by Sir Archibald during the war and has created works of Sir John Betjeman at St Pancras station and Charles Dickens at Portsmouth.
Physical description
The statue is positioned outside Sackville College near the High Street. It is made from Bronze and is 7ft (2.1m) tall. In this statue, McIndoe is shown helping a patient who is looking up to the sky which he could no longer fly in after his injuries.